NTFAW gala day: Nail-biter extends derby rivalry as Saints create history

Shortened from seven games to six following East Coast's late pull-out from the division one season, two games were played side-by-side at the home of the Magpies, with the afternoon games of Deloraine versus Meander Valley and Bridgenorth versus Old Scotch promising to be great contests.

The former lived up to the billing.

Keen for revenge following last season's heartbreak, the Sunettes responded to an early Deloraine goal by botting four of their own in the first quarter.

From there, the Roos gradually closed the margin back down, trailing by six at the main break and hit the lead early in the the third before Jemma Lawrence was taken off the field in an ambulance following a heavy tackle where she was suspected to have dislocated her knee.

Following the extended break the Roos took control, ousting a gallant Meander Valley side who were never really out of the contest to win 7.9 (51) to 6.4 (40).

The cracking contest adds to a growing list of great games between the clubs beginning last season.

"There were two parts we had to do, we had to get at the footy a bit more versus waiting for the footy, and we had to get our structures right," Deloraine coach Brad Powe described as the catalyst for their turnaround.

"We'd allow them easy exits out in front of the stoppage, which they'd then just run into open goals, so we just closed off that exit point."

While last season's league best and fairest winner Hannah Mitchell-Grima started her campaign with two goals, Powe believed the win was full of unsung heroes.

"I thought Phoebe Barnett, even though she didn't score, she had a big influence with body language and presentation at the footy and I thought that impacted the game as much as anything else," he said.

At the same time on Scottsdale's main oval, premier division grand finalists Bridgenorth were made to work hard against Old Scotch, but proved too fit for their opposition in the last quarter, running away 6.8 (44) to 1.3 (9) winners.

Booting four majors in the final term, the margin remained in single digits for most of the contest before co-skipper Alice Robinson capped off her outstanding day in both midfield and forward areas with her second and third goals to put the result beyond doubt.

"[Robinson] can make an impact as we've seen, at a high level too," Parrots coach Bobby Beams said of his on-field leader.

"She was very good in the midfield early on and then we probably went a little bit shorter in the last quarter and at half-forward just to get a bit more pace around the footy."

It was a promising start for Beams, who said the squad were challenged at half-time to attack the contest a bit more against a Thistles side not giving an inch of room.

"Both sides were just waiting for someone else to take the game by the scruff of the neck and so the message was to compete," he said.

"Let's really compete and create contests, whether it be in the air or on the ground, and then that was able to win us some footy and make them turn the ball over."

Earlier in the day, St Pats got off to a dream start in their inaugural campaign as they won at the first time of asking, knocking off Longford 5.8 (38) to 2.5 (17).

Division one's other game was far more one-sided, with Hillwood continuing their strong form to beat Evandale 27. 13 (175) to 0.0 (0).

Among the 12 goal-kickers were Narin Maurangi and Ellen Brickhill who finished with bags of seven and five respectively.

In the premier division's early games, reigning premiers Old Launcestonians were in no mood to hand the home side a win as they powered to a 10.6 (66) to 0.1 (1) victory while Launceston showed their off-season improvement to knock off South Launceston 6.6 (42) to 4.4 (28).